What does sown mean?
Sown is the past participle of the verb sow and is most often encountered in constructions indicating that seed has been scattered into soil. The common passive pattern is “has been sown,” as in “The field has been sown with winter wheat,” while active constructions use it after have or has, as in “They have sown the seeds.” Sown also functions attributively, especially in phrases such as “a sown field” or “newly sown land.” Its agricultural associations make it concrete and traditional, though the word can also describe any deliberate scattering of smaller objects. The pronunciation is /soʊn/ in American English and /səʊn/ in British English, with a silent w. Sown is useful as an example of a regular past participle whose active and passive meanings differ in grammatical form but remain closely related.
The past participle of sow, indicating that seed or another material has been scattered for growth or distribution.
"The field has been sown with a new variety of wheat."
In a passive construction, the sense is complete with “been” or “be”; in an active perfect construction, it follows “have” or “has” without “been.”
Having been planted with seed; cultivated or prepared for growing crops.
"Birds gathered in the newly sown field."
This participial use is especially associated with agricultural and literary language.
Sown begins with a silent w: once the seed is sown, the w keeps quiet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sown come from?
Sown is the past participle of sow, which comes from Old English sāwan. That verb belongs to the Germanic family of sowing verbs, with close cognates in modern German säen and Dutch zaaien. The Indo-European family also includes Latin serere, meaning “to sow,” from which the ancient root can be traced.
Related word forms
How sown is actually used
In its most common passive use, sown takes the auxiliary be: “The field has been sown.” In active perfect constructions, it appears directly after have or has: “She has sown the seeds.” Its attributive use is common in literary and agricultural contexts.
Easily confused with sown
Sown is the past participle of sow, whereas sow is the base form used for infinitive and present-tense constructions.